Society is splitting into three groups -- two are broad and easily recognizable while the third is virtually invisible and does not actually qualify as a group at all.
The first group comprises the disillusioned -- that slowly increasing and expanding patchwork assembly of people experiencing varying degrees of disappointment, despondency, and dismay at the discovery that many things of the world are not as good as they hoped or believed they would be.
They are confused and mortified by the failure of democracy, the cratering of free markets, the trampling of human rights, the encroachments upon individual liberty, the splintering of society, and all the rest of it.
Like betrayed lovers, they feel as if their entire world has been wrenched out from beneath them, and they look around frantically for someone or something to trust, to commit to, to believe in.
Deep down, the disillusioned know the System has not lived up to its promises, but they can think of no alternative beyond the possibility of a reformed or improved System.
The disillusioned understand that they have been deceived and cheated, but they refuse to recognize the illusions as illusions and remain committed to the "reality" of everything that led to their disillusionment.
The second group consists of the fully "illusioned" -- the formless mainstream mass of despiritualized moderns whose "reality" never extends beyond the illusions of the manufactured, external "given" world of the System.
Unlike the disillusioned group, the illusioned feel little dismay or regret. They are not saddened by the failure of democracy because they are unaware that democracy has indeed failed.
They are not disheartened by the trampling of human rights because they assume the safety and security the System peddles is the ultimate human right that trumps all others. They care little about individual liberty because they experience freedom as a burden and cannot bear to be free.
Finally, they embrace the splintering of society as "progress" and work diligently to accelerate the process by throwing their full support and allegiance behind whatever "current thing" the System promotes.
The third and final group is not really a group at all but more of a miscellany of individuals sprinkled thinly over the vast surface of the world. Like the disillusioned, the individuals in the third group are acutely aware that many of the things of this world are not as good as they previously believed them to be.
Unlike the disillusioned group, the third group has moved past all despondency, bitterness, discouragement, and dismay. For them, disillusionment is not a let down, but a "raise up".
Instead of brooding on the loss of cherished illusions, individuals in the third group are becoming aware of the reality beyond the illusions. The wrenching away of the world amounts to little more than the wrenching away of untruth.
Individuals in the third group are free to act, learn, love, and believe in ways individuals in the other two groups cannot even begin to fathom. Rather than brood on disillusionment, individuals in the third group quietly work toward a new revelation that can only arise from freedom, creativity, and love.
For them, the end of illusion marks the beginning of creation.
The first group comprises the disillusioned -- that slowly increasing and expanding patchwork assembly of people experiencing varying degrees of disappointment, despondency, and dismay at the discovery that many things of the world are not as good as they hoped or believed they would be.
They are confused and mortified by the failure of democracy, the cratering of free markets, the trampling of human rights, the encroachments upon individual liberty, the splintering of society, and all the rest of it.
Like betrayed lovers, they feel as if their entire world has been wrenched out from beneath them, and they look around frantically for someone or something to trust, to commit to, to believe in.
Deep down, the disillusioned know the System has not lived up to its promises, but they can think of no alternative beyond the possibility of a reformed or improved System.
The disillusioned understand that they have been deceived and cheated, but they refuse to recognize the illusions as illusions and remain committed to the "reality" of everything that led to their disillusionment.
The second group consists of the fully "illusioned" -- the formless mainstream mass of despiritualized moderns whose "reality" never extends beyond the illusions of the manufactured, external "given" world of the System.
Unlike the disillusioned group, the illusioned feel little dismay or regret. They are not saddened by the failure of democracy because they are unaware that democracy has indeed failed.
They are not disheartened by the trampling of human rights because they assume the safety and security the System peddles is the ultimate human right that trumps all others. They care little about individual liberty because they experience freedom as a burden and cannot bear to be free.
Finally, they embrace the splintering of society as "progress" and work diligently to accelerate the process by throwing their full support and allegiance behind whatever "current thing" the System promotes.
The third and final group is not really a group at all but more of a miscellany of individuals sprinkled thinly over the vast surface of the world. Like the disillusioned, the individuals in the third group are acutely aware that many of the things of this world are not as good as they previously believed them to be.
Unlike the disillusioned group, the third group has moved past all despondency, bitterness, discouragement, and dismay. For them, disillusionment is not a let down, but a "raise up".
Instead of brooding on the loss of cherished illusions, individuals in the third group are becoming aware of the reality beyond the illusions. The wrenching away of the world amounts to little more than the wrenching away of untruth.
Individuals in the third group are free to act, learn, love, and believe in ways individuals in the other two groups cannot even begin to fathom. Rather than brood on disillusionment, individuals in the third group quietly work toward a new revelation that can only arise from freedom, creativity, and love.
For them, the end of illusion marks the beginning of creation.
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